


Lessons

by ShayneyL



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Babel Trek Open Project (Star Trek), Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:26:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22592485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShayneyL/pseuds/ShayneyL
Summary: The universal translator might worktoowell.
Comments: 22
Kudos: 66
Collections: The Babel Trek Open Project





	Lessons

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ: *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

A familiar, exuberant voice interrupted Tuvok's breakfast. "Mr. Vulcan!"

Tuvok put down the forkful of vegetable frittata he was about to put in his mouth. "Do you require assistance, Mr. Neelix?"

Neelix crossed the mess hall to Tuvok's table. _"Nashaut,"_ he said.

Tuvok's eyebrow shot up.

"Is that right?" Neelix asked.

"No," Tuvok replied. "It is a greeting reserved for…intimate friends, usually bondmates."

"Oh." Neelix sat down, apparently planning to stay.

"Am I to assume that you are taking up the study of the Vulcan language?" Captain Janeway had ordered every member of the crew to study their own language, and one other.

"Right you are," Neelix said.

"Why not learn Federation Standard? That is more likely to be useful aboard this vessel than Vulcan."

"I'm learning that one, too," Neelix said. "I already know my own language, so I thought I'd pick a different one."

"Very commendable of you," Tuvok said, while privately wishing Neelix had selected another language, any other language.

"Tell me, Mr. Vulcan…why did the Captain order everyone to study languages?"

"Surely you recall the failure of the universal translator three weeks ago. The results were catastrophic. Until Lt. Torres rebuilt the corrupted database, no one could understand each other."

"But most of the crew are from the same planet. Don't they all speak the same language?"

"No," Tuvok said. "There are thousands of languages spoken on Earth. Even in the same nation, there may be multiple languages or dialects used."

"But why did the Captain order people to study their _own_ languages?"

"It seems over-reliance on the universal translator has had some unexpected drawbacks. Its use on Earth is ubiquitous. As a result, Earth children often grow up speaking…" He was going to say "incorrectly," but decided on a less judgmental term. "…highly individual, variant versions of their parents' languages. This is not rectified, as the universal translator makes it unnecessary. Captain Janeway, Lt. Paris, and Ensign Kim were raised in the same culture, yet when the universal translator failed, they could not communicate. Even the Ensigns Delaney, raised together in the same household, struggled to understand each other."

"Oh. Sounds like the captain has the right idea, then," Neelix said. He frowned. "I was planning to learn Klingon, but it's difficult. I thought I was telling B'Elanna 'You look lovely today.' But apparently, I said 'Your mother had inappropriate relations with a targ.' She almost killed me."

"I see."

"You Vulcans are so calm, I thought you'd be more tolerant of a beginner's mistakes."

"Indeed," Tuvok said. He couldn't argue with that logic. "In that case…the word you want is _tonk'peh_. That is a more appropriate greeting between casual acquaintances than _nashaut."_

" _Tonk'peh,_ Mr. Vulcan!"

" _Tonk'peh,_ Mr. Neelix," Tuvok said with a sigh.


End file.
